


Spider-man: The Almost-Avenger

by TheForrestofFanfic



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Family, Domestic Avengers, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Peter Parker-centric, Protective Avengers, Protective Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, more characters will be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-09-28 18:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17188052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheForrestofFanfic/pseuds/TheForrestofFanfic
Summary: One year on from the media dubbed "Infinity War" and Peter is doing just fine, he's at university, he's going for a part-time job, he's putting down bad guys. Basically, he's maturing, or at least more so than when he was 16, he thinks. So what's the Spider-man doing now? Oh nothing just a sinister group of evil villains, a sentient suit, a few new friends and hanging with the Avengers... oh! Did I mention he might be in love too?





	1. Aftermath

Peter looked into the mirror for what seemed like the hundredth time. He’d mostly healed from the most intense battle of his life, the most intense battle of anyone’s lives; ‘The Infinity War’ as the Daily Bugle had labelled it. It’d been a week since Thanos, since all that death, since disappearing into dust and he didn’t think he would ever forget his face.

“Okay come on Parker, you got this.” He breathed heavily and rubbed his hands up and down his face. “Come on, come on.”

“You ready, Pete?” His Aunt May, she was all he had and he almost lost her or at least she almost lost him. He gave her a small shake and held up his tie still loose over his shoulder. She smiled and came to tie it round his neck. “Tony said he’s going to be here soon to take you to the funeral.”

“Thanks May.” His head was permanently fixed to the floor unwilling to give up any kind of emotions in front of his aunt. He was growing up now, he was 18, he was going to University, he was Spider-Man, he was…

“Hey,” She lifted his chin up so their eyes met. “Are you gonna be alright today?” Of course not, but what else was she going to ask? He nodded trying to seem more assuring but he doubt it worked, lying to May often didn’t. She patted his tie when it was finished and gently guided him out of the room.

In the living room, the TV was on, didn’t matter what channel you flicked to, everyone was talking about it. Half the population had disappeared and reappeared in just 72 hours, but during that time there had been mass hysteria and with hysteria came collateral damage. Any passenger in a car or a plane or a pedestrian in the street or a child in a pram there were too many to even consider the ball park figure of casualties.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the distinct rev of Tony’s car followed by the car horn. He shook his head a little, his hands rubbing against his face trying to find some sort of clarity after the last week he’d had. He turned from the TV, hugged Aunt May who kissed his forehead before gently nudging him toward the door. He plodded down the staircase and forced himself through the entrance to his block of flats and saw Tony, dressed in black, equally as sombre, leaning on a black Audi R8.

“Hey kid.” He opened the door for him and walked around to the driver’s side. The two sat in silence, neither really expecting the other to speak. Peter tried anyway.

“Mr Stark…” He trailed off, trying to find the words. Does he apologise? Does he just give his condolences? Does he crack a joke or reflect on the past few days?

“If you’re thinking of something to say let me save you the trouble and tell you there isn’t anything to say today.” He huffed and put his belt on before clutching the wheel.  “Buckle up kid I’m not getting pulled over by the cops for you.” He complied instantly not even daring to look at his mentor.

As they navigate around New York Peter watched the demolition teams, all owned by Mr Stark, clearing up the rubble, searching through collapsed buildings and houses. The body count went up every second upon new bodies being found, New York had gone through enough without Thanos tearing it up to enact his power upon the Avengers. New York had come far since Manhattan, that was six years ago now, but looking around it looked like it was just days ago. And he had been in the midst of it all.  

“Are you just gonna sit there kid?” He suddenly perked up to see Mr Stark on the pavement holding out the door for him.

“Oh s – sorry Mr Stark I-”

Tony appeared to take a breath. He put a reassuring hand on Peter’s shoulder. “It’s fine Peter, this is tough on me too.” Peter could only nod and step out the car, there was nothing here that could indicate a funeral, the public had their display for the fallen heroes two days ago. This was private, for friends, family and Peter apparently. No one knew he was Spider-man apart from Tony which he was crucially aware of as the two stared at the front door to the church.

He’d only been in Brooklyn a handful of times. Peter stared up at the church but followed Tony in quietly. At the entrance there was a table of pictures, all of Captain America and Vision in different settings with different people; there was a nice one of Steve and Bucky in army uniform, and one of Scarlet Witch and Vision as well as a team photo – he wasn’t in it but he’d feel uncomfortable if he was. Peter took a deep breath and felt Tony’s hand on his back; he let himself be led to the first row of pews. He recognised most of the people he walked passed, most were Avengers; Thor was here, so was Dr Banner, Widow, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Bucky, everyone. Even the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ were here. Other faces he didn’t recognise but they were here so they mattered to Steve or Vis.

The priest nodded at Tony who nodded back and he began the eulogy. “These three heroes gave their lives to what they believed in. I knew none personally so I won’t be delivering the eulogy but on behalf of the clergy here we thank Steve Rogers and The Vision for their services to America and indeed to the world.”

The church was silent as Tony was the first to stand. He walked over to the podium and took out a crumpled piece of paper and folded it out in front of him.

“If I don’t have this I’ll just go on and on about how stubborn they were.” Peter couldn’t help but smile a little at Mr Stark’s half joke. “I guess that’s the point though isn’t it. They were so steadfast and strong in their lives, they had to be, I mean they were Avengers. But they were more than that, before this team, before I’d even thought of the Avengers Initiative, they were already heroes just trying to do what they thought was best. In Vision’s case it was catering to my every need which is something I’m really gonna miss. No but seriously, Steve was my friend and we fought like friends too, but even after all that happened he came back and had my back in the fight against Thanos.

And Vision who is – was – the youngest member of our team, he’s 2 soon. Smart kid. He really was spectacular, watching him learn and develop as a person because let’s not play around here he was a person as much as any of us. Perhaps even more so. He was brilliant, they both were and I’m sure you’ll all be with me when I say that we’ll miss more than just their super abilities. Thank you.”

Different Avengers stood and gave their own eulogies, even the so called ‘Star-Lord’ spoke on what little he knew of the three. Perhaps the most heartbreaking was Scarlet Witch’s; Peter hadn’t known Vision or Scarlet Witch at all really, only from Germany but they were in love and now it was gone. Just like Uncle Ben’s love was taken from him. The service finished and everyone moved towards the door since the gathering was happening at the compound.

“Hey kid, you coming? You’re an Avenger now. You belong with us.” Maybe a couple weeks ago, before Thanos, this would have made him ecstatic but now? It just scared him. Everything had become very real very quickly.

“Mr Stark?” He closed his eyes, gave a deep breath and forced down a sob. “Thank you for making me an Avenger but I don’t think I’m ready yet.”

“Why the sudden change?” He didn’t say it with any kind of offence, just curiosity.

“Dying gives you some perspective…” He joked; he remembered exactly how it felt to turn to nothing but dust just gripping on to Tony, begging not to be taken. “I want to be the friendly neighbourhood Spider-man for a while.”

“For what it’s worth, you made an excellent Avenger Pete.” Peter stood then, locked eyes with Tony and even among all the sadness of losing two Avengers, he smiled. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“I’m going to give you the Iron-Spider suit back.” Tony looked like he was going to protest so Peter quickly added. “When I’m ready to be an Avenger I’ll wear it again.” Tony doesn’t say anything; he just smiled and gripped his shoulder before walking out of the Church.

When Peter left the church, Happy was there to take him back home. He knew all he ever wanted since becoming Spider-man was to become an Avenger but after everything he’s been through, refusing it felt like the right decision.

At least for now.

 

 


	2. Shocker

-Five months later-

“I’m gonna be so late,” Peter swung between the buildings as fast as he could. He’d woken up late, only just managed to catch a train before missing the bus. He was done for.

“You are late for your first lecture at Empire State University, Peter.” Karen added rather unhelpfully. He could see the campus site for ESU just ahead, whether he could change and find his class before then was an entirely different matter.

“Thanks, give me schematics, I need somewhere to change, somewhere close to my class.” Suddenly the building became clear as Karen pinpointed a janitor’s closet not far from his class. “Come on I got this…” He landed swiftly on the roof of the campus, apparently everyone but him were in their lectures because no one saw Spider-Man drop onto the roof of the college.

Peter quickly crawled through a maintenance shaft into the thankfully empty closet and changed before rushing out…into a group of students. At their confused looks he quickly smiled “Sorry I’m very lost,” he jumped at the sound of a mop falling out of the closet behind him, “really very lost, biology class 201?” One of the kids pointed down the hallway and he was already off, his backpack practically flying off his back.

He burst through the doors to the class drawing the entire theatres’ attention. He gave a small wave ignoring the smirks and chuckles and sat in an empty seat in the middle row.

“Ah, you must be Peter Parker.” Peter whipped his head up from where he was scrambling for his pen and pad of paper while trying to hide his stupid mask he forgot to hide in the closet. “I’ve heard great things so I won’t let this disappoint me.”

“Thank you Dr Connors, I don’t mean to interrupt the lecture, well more so than I have, but anyway, your paper on the regenerative properties of reptilian genetics is fascinating.” Curt Connors as far as he and Ned were concerned was an absolute genius, he had been born without an arm due to a genetic dysfunction and his paper made breakthroughs in genetics into the theory of limb growth.

“Oh it seems I have a fan. Flattery won’t get you anywhere Peter, turn up to class on time please.” Peter grinned and enthusiastically nodded his head before Dr Connors continued with his lecture.

He scribbled practically everything Connors said, every micro spec of information was so fascinating, he’d come to grips with the basics of many of the biological theories but to hear an expert talk about it was something else. Clearly his eagerness hadn’t gone unnoticed because he felt someone tap him on the shoulder and he almost leapt onto the ceiling knocking over his pad. As the theatre looked at him again he held his hands up and quickly apologised before picking up his pad and turning to the person next to him.

“Hi, sorry how can I help?” He tried to be polite but as he looked up his mouth dropped. How had he not even noticed this girl sitting next to him? She was beautiful, long blonde hair, bright red lips, soft blue eyes and… that perfume, filling his hyper-senses immediately.

“Peter your mouth is open.” Karen popped into his ear again. He was seriously reconsidering this ear piece he connected to her AI.

He quickly closed his mouth and tried his best smile “Sorry about that.” He whispered attempting not to interrupt the class again.

She didn’t seem fazed by his bumbling and just leant over slightly. He felt his heartbeat quicken and his breath become heavy, if she noticed she didn’t say anything. “I just can’t seem to make any sense of any of this but you seem to be taking it all in your stride, you couldn’t explain some of this to me?”

Peter smiled sheepishly and pushed his hand through his hair. He tentatively brought his chair closer to her bringing his pad in front of her and began quietly going through whatever it was that Connors would talk about. This went on for about ten minutes before the good Doctor decided the muttering in his class was too frustrating. He tried to apologise after the lecture but this girl didn’t want any of it, instead she offered to study with him outside of class and gave him her name and number.

“Felicia Hardy… wow.” He quietly muttered to himself.

“She seems nice.” Karen chimed in. He chuckled to himself, shaking his head as he went back to the janitor’s closet, this time checking no one was actually around, before slipping in and crawling out the maintenance vent. His chemistry lecture wasn’t for another hour and he wanted to get some spidey time in.

“Okay Karen, what we got today?” Peter used his webs to sling himself down Hudson Street.

“There’s a robbery in progress in Lower Manhattan. Bringing up GPS now.” Peter swung around buildings and jumped over rooftops, he felt the wind against him as he ran at super human speeds across roofs. He couldn’t help but laugh as he leapt off the next building, the entire city flipping upside down as he free fell; the skyscrapers looked like industrious icicles.

He landed in front of the Chase Bank and surveyed the immediate area. Most of the civilians were either outside of the bank or running out of it. He’d passed the police on the way so they could take care of the public while he stopped whoever was inside. The doors were blown in and were embedded in the opposite wall. Peter cautiously stepped in; he could hear movement from further inside the building. Whoever the robber was they weren’t expecting the Spider-man, guess they hadn’t expected him to enrol at ESU. Peter jumped to the ceiling and crawled around the corner to see a man dressed in some black and yellow suit putting money into a sack.

“Hey Bumblebee, the other transformers are waiting for you.” Caught off guard the criminal spun around and fired some kind of blast which narrowly missed Peter as he jumped away.

“Thought you stayed in Queens.” He knew that voice. “This time I’ll end you.” Shocker. He carried on firing seismic blasts, luckily Peter was too fast for them to make contact as he leapt from wall to wall.

“Herman you escaped from prison.” He dived at Shocker pushing him on to the ground before he flipped backwards and webbed his gauntlets.

“Friendly and observant.” He taunted as he used his seismic blasts to rip through his webbing with ease and push himself up off the ground.

“You got let out on good behaviour? And they say prison doesn’t solve anything!” Peter kept dodging his blasts but there was only so much the bank’s structure was going to take before it fell. The corridor was too tight and he was running out of options. He had to end this somehow.

“Someone very high up upgraded my gauntlets. Let me show you.” He flicked a switch on his gauntlets and fired again only this time the frequency and radius of the blast had completely increased. Peter was hit and flew back into the wall cracking it, the blast held him against the concrete and he screamed as he was further entrenched into it. “Too easy.” He heard before his body collapsed against the floor and then everything went black.

_Peter could hear a voice calling out to him. “You failed.” He recognised that voice, it reverberated around him and bellowed out again “You failed to stop me.” Peter opened his eyes. He was on Titan. His eyes went as wide as satellite dishes… No not here, anywhere but here, I can’t be here… he spun on his heels taking in his surroundings, it was exactly as it was before, last year, when he disappeared. The red planet was a dustbowl, like Mad Max or something. “You failed Peter.” He turned and came face to face with Thanos, suddenly he was in a choke hold, colossal purple hands were wrapped around his throat getting tighter every second. Peter squirmed and wriggled trying desperately with all his strength to fight, it’s what Vision would do, what Captain America would do… but they were dead; and so was he._

_His eyes opened and he knew exactly where he was… Not here too! Thanos was going toe to toe with Thor while the other Avengers were fighting those xenomorph looking things. He saw himself helping people escape on the outskirts, fighting off incoming monsters best he could. Suddenly Thor was thrown half way across Manhattan, he watched Captain America and Iron Man engage, No please Mr Rogers stay back! He tried to scream but no words came out. Thanos caught Steve, he watched himself slingshot across to help but it was too late…CRACK. His body dropped to the floor and a dark puddle cradled his head._

_Peter fell to the floor. It was his fault, all his fault… I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m Oh God I’m sorry. He sobbed silently trapped in the same nightmare he’d been having for months._

_“Spider-man” The voice cut through to him like a knife. He looked to his left, it was Scarlet Witch. Could she see him? That wasn’t possible, was it? “Yeah it’s possible Spider-man, this is a dream, I’m holding up a building, please you need to wake up and help me!”_

_“It can’t be a dream, I watched it happen!” His voice was audible now; it cracked as he screamed at her in desperation. “It was my fault!”_

_“It wasn’t your fault! It was Thanos! He took so much from us but we beat him remember!” She was crying too but Peter turned to the scene again, it wasn’t littered with the bodies of all the Avengers, he saw the Hulk pumped with a new sense of anger putting a relentless beat down on Thanos while the other Avengers immobilised. They were winning and Peter’s hands balled into fists before he pushed himself up into a standing position._

_“How do I wake up?” He stepped towards her, the air suddenly felt like treacle, he could barely put one foot in front of the other._

_“Just walk to me.” Peter nodded and summoned all his strength, it felt like the entire world was pushing against him but he pushed and pushed until he could reach out and touch her. Just then, she disappeared and a bright light suddenly consumed him._

“Spider-man.” Everything was bright and blurry as he tried to open his eyes. He could just make out the fuzzy red shape of Scarlet Witch in front of him. “Please I don’t know how long I can hold this.” Suddenly his spider senses began to whirl as his vision focussed up and his strength returned to him.

“What happened?” He asked but by the strained look on her face there were more pressing matters to attend to. “Karen give me weak points, now!”

“Yes Peter.” Suddenly the building lit up with a bunch of schematics showing, in red, the structural weaknesses in the building. “You have about 20 seconds before the whole building collapses on you and Scarlet Witch, Peter.”

Peter instantly began webbing up the lower floor “19. 18. 17.” He leapt to the next floor through a hole that must’ve been ripped open in the destruction. He climbed and climbed webbing up every cracked pillar and fractured wall using a flurry of web grenades and dual webbing “11. 10. 9.” He could feel the sweat through his mask as he kept climbing and webbing up as quickly as his muscles would let him. “3. 2. Structure 100% stable. Well done Peter.”

“Thanks Karen.” He took heavy deep breaths as he lay flat on the top of the bank.

“That was pretty close Spider-Man.” He chuckled as he turned to see Scarlet Witch floating down next to him.

“You’re telling me, what the hell even happened?” He pushed himself up to face her properly as she landed and sat across from him.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y alerted me to the chaos going on down here so I came right over. I saw Shocker beat you-”

“I had him on the ropes-”

“I don’t think you did Spider.” She smirked and he waved her off smiling under his mask. “Anyway he was about to unmask you when I confronted him, I think he knew he didn’t stand a chance so he used his blasters to try and bring the building down.” Shocker was becoming more of a problem than he should be. “That’s when I reached into your dream to wake you up and now we’re here.”

“Right, well thanks for the save uh Scarlet?” She shook her head smiling.

“Wanda.” She corrected.

“Wanda. Nice, thanks for the save Wanda, I need to find Shocker before he hurts anyone else.” Before she could say anything more he leapt off the bank and used his webs to swing away. “We should team up again soon, it was fun!” He shouted back.

“Wait! Spider-man! What about your dreams? Aaand he’s gone.” Wanda huffed as she watched the friendly neighbourhood hero swing off round a corner and out of sight. “Be safe Spider-Man.”

 


	3. Enter the Magician

Peter landed softly on top of his apartment complex and ripped his mask from his face. He’d almost died back there, all because he let Shocker surprise him. Where’d he even get those tech upgrades? Last time he was hit by Shocker’s, well, shocks he was thrown into a bus but this was different, he was held in the air and made a Spidey-shaped dent into what must’ve been six inches of concrete. This was more than he’d been up against since the Vulture incident. He knew he couldn’t just go out and try and fight him again, not with his current arsenal of web fluid, he’d need to make adjustments.

“Karen, I need you to call Ned for me.” He jumped off the roof and swung into his open window.

“He’s already in your bedroom Peter.” As she said Ned was sitting at his desk building a Lego set just like he had been when Ned discovered he was Spider-Man. “Would you like me to initiate kill-mode?”

“What? No Karen jeez.” Ignoring his homicidal AI he waved at Ned who’d just turned to him with a sad look. It was the equivalent to kicking a dog sad look. Then he remembered. “Oh shit Ned I’m so sorry, I was just swinging around looking for trouble and then the Shocker turned up then Scarlet Witch was there and I completely forgot we were hanging out today.”

“It’s okay Pete, you missed chemistry class too.” That meant Ned had to take the train all the way back to Queens by himself… Damn.

“Ned, I’m so so sorry, I’d forgotten I had chem today as well. Listen, I’m gonna get Aunt May, we’re gonna order from that pizza place you like and then we’re gonna play video games until we can’t see straight.” He was talking a mile a minute trying to think of the best things Ned loved to do and pizza and video games were definitely high up on that list. It seemed to work because Ned’s face split into a grin.

“That sounds awesome dude. Just um please call ahead if you can’t make it, I know you’re busy being Spider-man and saving people but and I know I have no right to ask-”

“No Ned, I said to you that we’d spend the day together after chemistry class because it was the first day and I messed up. I’ll make sure to let Karen know next time something comes up.” Ned seemed satisfied with that and he let Peter change into a t shirt and jeans.

“You might want to say hi to May Pete, I think you’re on the news.” Things were still a little weird between him and May since she found out he was Spider-man so Ned was probably right in suggesting he get to her before the media does.

He walked into the room and his aunt immediately turned and brought him into a crushing hug.

“Oh my God Peter! What the hell were you thinking? Well actually I know the answer to that, you weren’t! Had Scarlet Witch not been there to save your ass you’d be gone. Don’t do that to me Pete, be more careful!” He wrapped his arms around her and took as much comfort in being with her as he could, after Uncle Ben he didn’t want her to lose him too.

“I’m so sorry Aunt May, I didn’t think Shocker was going to be too difficult when I saw him but then he had a massive upgrade to his gauntlets and it completely took me by surprise and May I promise I’ll be more careful-”

“Hey, hey it’s okay I’m just glad you’re here now. I’m just glad that guy has disappeared so you don’t have to deal with him.” Peter stiffened. May slowly unwrapped herself from Peter and gave him the ‘Aunt stare’. “You’re planning on going after him, aren’t you?” He didn’t say anything. “Peter…” Her voice began to rise and Peter didn’t want them to argue with Ned just in his bedroom obviously listening in.

“May can we not right now please. Ned’s in the other room and we can talk about this more later.” She looked like she wanted to protest further but she nodded and Peter just let her know his plans of pizza and games to make up for ditching Ned which she certainly did scold him for.

Peter breathed a heavy sigh of relief when the bedroom door closed behind him. “Your Aunt is a force of nature.” Ned stared at him like he’d just fought the hardest battle of his life.

“Yeah tell me about it.” Just then Peter had an idea. “Hey Ned,” Peter smiled and Ned stared sceptically back at him. “How do you want to help me make some stronger web fluid to take on Shocker?” By the ecstatic response which mainly consisted of Ned squealing and jumping around he figured that was a yes.

The two spent their time waiting for the pizza to arrive by throwing ideas (and pieces of paper) at each other about a way to overcome Shocker’s new amplified power. When the pizza did come they carried on throwing around little ideas and chemical equations in order to enhance the strength of the webbing and the insulating capabilities. Finally, after a lot of dead ends and running simulations on Peter’s computer that Mr. Stark had got him (“No more dumpster diving” the note had said when he came home from school), they’d finally got it.

“Okay so now we know how to upgrade your webbing, how are we going to do that exactly?” Ned chewed through the last piece of his pizza while Peter finished his second box.

“I think I’ll use the labs at ESU, if they won’t let me I’ll just sneak in.” Ned nodded along while skimming through games they could play on Peter’s PS3. “How about Portal 2?” Ned suggested.

“Sure throw it in dude.” They played Portal till around 11:30pm before May sent Ned home knowing full well they both had to go into University for an early lecture. May had actually made a point of printing out his schedule at the library just so she could try and make sure he’d attend his lectures instead of swinging through Manhattan.

“Peter, I want to talk to you about Shultz before bed.” May peaked through the door as Peter threw on a pyjama top.

“I have to go after him May, you know that. It’s my job as Spider-man.” He sat on the bed and she stood over him.

“Can’t you ask Scarlet Witch to follow it up?” He probably could do that but he wanted to take Shultz on, ever since Infinity war more and more bad guys had been popping up with advanced tech and he couldn’t help but feel partly responsible. He’d even heard about a guy with mechanical tentacles causing trouble.

“I could try May but they’re the Avengers, I don’t think they have time to follow me around.” At her worried look Peter quickly added “I’ll double check with Tony.”

She smiled a little. “Thank you Peter.” She kissed his head and stroked his cheek softly. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too May, I’m gonna come home I promise.” He could see the sad look behind her eyes but her smile never faltered. She just got up and told him “Good night” before flicking off the lights and shutting his door. He wouldn’t leave her, not after Uncle Ben, not after Thanos, not ever.

The next morning, Peter and Ned met up and took the train ESU. The trip was four hours long every day and the two were lucky that they got a student discount but the fare was still pretty steep. They had to figure something out soon because Peter couldn’t rely on Uncle Ben’s savings forever. When they arrived they went to class, on the way Peter saw Felicia who waved at him and he awkwardly waved back staring at her as she passed him. His spider-sense was the only thing that saved him from walking straight into another student. Ned didn’t shut up about that all lesson.

Luckily, Peter got permission to work on a “student project” for the assignment he missed on the first day of University in the chemistry labs. As they approached the labs the two gawked at the pristine and professional looking work spaces and saw many other older students working with different chemicals. Peter was excited to see what they had; maybe some of this stuff could be used to make more adjustments to his webbing if he came up against more upgraded criminals.

“This is so cool.” Ned excitedly whispered in his ear as they found an empty desk and began discreetly unloading the chemicals Peter had with him to make the original fluid.

“I know right, I bet I could upgrade my webbing for everything here.” He grinned as he opened a couple cupboards and found a couple chemicals he could use to make the webbing stronger and a couple for insulation.

“Okay be careful Pete, too much of this stuff and we’re gonna all be covered in your sticky webbing.” Peter laughed a little but Ned just shook his head and smiled.

“What? You don’t want to be covered in my sticky webbing Ned?” He playfully nudged him laughing.

“Shut up and concentrate idiot.” Peter just laughed harder and mixed the chemicals before pouring it into the fluid mixture. Once it was mixed Peter packed it into his webbing and pulled Ned from the other students who had taken an interest in two first years in the labs this early into the semester.

Once the two were outside, Peter offered to take the train back to Queens with Ned but he refused telling Peter that it was more likely that Shocker would strike again in Manhattan if he did at all. So they hugged and Peter found the nearest alley and changed into his suit before finding a roof top and waited for the Shocker to show himself. Peter rigged a radio to tap into the police frequency so he could monitor all crime going on in Manhattan – if Shocker was around tonight he should know about it.

He told May he was going to notify Tony but he’d only seen him a handful of times since the funerals and he doubted Tony would do much anyway; he was the busiest person ever. Besides, this was Spider-Man’s problem. So he just sat on the roof top and started reading through the biology text book for his course – _The lizard is one of the most profound creatures on the planet with the ability to regenerate any limb of its body within days of losing it –_ Suddenly the radio caught on to something.

“Shultz spotted going into the bank – all units mobilise” The bank wasn’t too far from where he was now, maybe a ten minute swing.

“Okay Karen, let’s bag ourselves a bad guy!” He packed up his things and webbed his bag to the roof just in case.

“Good luck Peter, I’ll be on hand if assistance is required.” Peter smiled under his mask and threw himself off the building into a free fall. He felt the adrenaline course through him as his senses heightened tenfold and he was instantly aware of the birds flapping above him and the people busying themselves below him. He webbed to the next building, swinging right through the streets of Manhattan. He sped past cars, trucks and lorries at breath taking speeds waving at people who waved up at him. Maybe this superhero business was getting to his head. Nevertheless, he arrived at the bank minutes ahead of the nearest cop car and walked right in.

He crawled across the ceiling quietly on the lookout for Shocker. He’d likely be in the vault and he had Karen direct him through, he’d just come down to the first sub level and into the first corridor when Karen alerted him to heat signatures. Shultz had brought back up. He spotted a couple of guys, they were decked in full body armour brandishing high tech weaponry far above anything the NYPD or the local gangs had a hold of. Who the hell was helping the Shocker?

“Hey that’s Spider-Man! Get him!” His spider-sense was on high alert as bullets came flying at him. He quickly flipped down from the ceiling onto the floor and ran into one of the offices taking cover from the gun fire.

“Hi boys, not even a hello today?” The window smashed as a grenade flew into the room. “Oh shit!” Peter webbed it and threw it back into the corridor. He used the explosion as an opportunity to jump through the window himself and launch a table in the corridor towards the guards taking them out. “I’m looking for a guy in black and yellow?” He pulled a gun off one of the guards and used it to knock another one out before kicking the first firmly in the chest. “No not Wiz Khalifa.” Spider-man ran through the next set of corridors and he was starting to get close to the vault when more guards appeared. “You guys are determined, I’ll give you that.” The sudden gun fire forced him to take cover in another very convenient office.

“Move on Spider-Man, protect Shultz.” He heard one of the guards say and the thunder of their heavy boots clattered towards him.

“What the hell am I gonna do now?” He really didn’t want this to be his final hour. He was hoping he’d die of too many calories or something; not against Herman of all people.

“Web grenade engaged.” Karen came on in the coms and he couldn’t help but grin.

“I love you Karen.”  He laughed as he picked up the desk and threw it through the window into the oncoming guards.

“I do not know what love feels like Peter. I’m an AI.” Peter rolled his eyes as he fired web grenades at the incoming troops. There were so many, they were like a small army. Did they work for Shocker? When he finally stepped out he grinned at the dozen or so guards struggling to get out of his new strengthened web fluid.

“Good luck getting out of that one guys.” He gave them a mock salute before running towards the vault. Finally, he saw Shocker who was packing money into a bag along with a couple more accomplices. “Hey Herman ol’buddy!” Shocker jumped at his voice and didn’t look too happy to see him.

“No witchy friend to bail you out this time Spider-man.” He nodded for the two guards to engage but Peter took them out easily.

“Not this time but I’ll be sure to pass on your prison number if you want her to visit.” He quipped casually walking towards him.

“I’m gonna kill you!” He screamed as his gauntlets powered up.

“Man, you villains need a new catchphrase.” He dodged a couple of the initial blasts. Luckily, they were underground so the structure was a little tougher at the foundations. “What about ‘I’m going to jail!’? It’s definitely more accurate.”

“Shut up web-head!” He boosted his gauntlets just like before but this time Peter was ready for it and he quickly webbed the gauntlets so they couldn’t fire. “My gauntlets!” Shocker tried to fire again but the shock built up ad sent him flying back. “But – but how?”

“I upgraded my webbing to combat your new gauntlets. I thought that if you got an upgrade then why couldn’t I?” He webbed Shocker so that he was stuck to the back wall of the vault.

“I’ll get you for this web-” Spider-man fired a web at his mouth keeping it shut.

“Better luck next time Shocker.” He turned just as the police came barrelling in.

“Spider-Man! Hands up!” This vigilante hunting season was getting rather old but NYPD hadn’t let up since Infinity War and to be honest Peter didn’t blame them.

Peter held up his hands but moved away from the police herd. “I got Shultz, and I’m gonna leave now so-” He was gone. “What? He’s gone!” Peter looked at the vault, his webbing gone along with the Shocker.

“Shultz isn’t here Spider-man. It’s just you trying to steal the money from the bank.” One of the armed policemen observed as they began to close in.

“Hey wait! No I stopped those guys, didn’t you see them?” They didn’t seem to respond and kept inching closer. “Damn it.” Peter dropped low to the floor and before anyone could comprehend it the first two policemen were on the floor and then Peter was running.

He ran and ran and ran. He left through the back entrance knowing there was surely back up waiting out front. Spider-man fled but he missed the naked cops tied up at the front of the bank and the severe lack of a police chase.

Meanwhile, back in the vault a figure in a green and purple suit picked up a single white cube from the floor and hit the button on the side. Shocker reappeared still stuck to the back of the vault and the figure grinned under his white helmet.

“You’re a smart dude, Beck. Now get me out of this.” He gestured to the webs left behind by that wall crawling maniac.

The man, named Beck, turned to the police officers. “Cut him loose.” They nodded and helped Shultz out of the webbing. “It was a great idea to distract Spider-Man while I got what we came for.” He held out a memory stick and Shultz grinned.

“The boss should be happy with that. Let’s go before the real police get here.” Shultz, Beck and the fake police officers left in a getaway van not five minutes after Spider-man’s own retreat. 

 


	4. Saved Again

Peter sat with Felicia in one of the many university common rooms explaining the next part of Dr Connor’s lecture. They’d gotten to metabolic systems and disorders but Felicia had come to him with a problem that he was more than happy to talk over with her. It didn’t matter that she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Definitely not.

“And yeah anyway so basically metabolic syndrome is a cluster of problems, metabolic disorder is more a less one defective gene that results in enzyme deficiency. Obviously it’s a tad more complicated than that but you get the gist.” He smiled but quickly added. “But uh if you need to go over it again we can totally do that.”

“No no, thanks Peter I think I’ve got it now.” He fiddled with the sleeve of his ESU jumper attempting and failing to engage eye contact. Instead he zeroed in on all the other ESU students; many were older years with beards and stress lines on their forehead. “You live in Queens, right?”

“Uh yeah, lived there most of my life with my Aunt and Uncle until he passed, now it’s just me and May.” He tried to give a convincing grin, hoping she wouldn’t press him for detail on Uncle Ben’s death.

“Oh I’m sorry to hear that Peter, um well I only ask because I’m going to a bit of a gathering in Queens and since you lived nearby I thought you could accompany me.” Was Felicia Hardy asking him out on a date?

“Uh umm”

“Oh sorry maybe I shouldn’t have asked, you must be so busy all the time.” Felicia quickly made to get up but a sudden impulse ripped through Peter and he grabbed her hand pulling her back down onto the bench and right up close to him. “Parker?” Her soft lips stretched to a devilish grin.

“Yeah.” He stared at her longingly, her hand still intertwined with his so he took that as an indicator that his impulse hadn’t repulsed her.

“Yeah what Parker?” She prompted laughing a little.

“Oh yeah I will accompany you if that’s okay with you?” _Stupid Parker! She asked you already! Why can’t you just be cool for once?_

“See you at 8pm sharp; I’ll text you the address.” Felicia was about to walk away again but turned and leant down to peck him on the cheek before gliding away. “Bye Parker.” She called back with a wave.

“Bye Felicia.” He spoke quietly grinning ear to ear while he rubbed the area where she’d kissed him. “Wow.”

“Hey Puny Parker!” He almost had the delight of going an entire two weeks without seeing Flash, guess that time was over.

“Hello Flash” He turned for what would probably be a slew of insults followed by some vague threat followed by another joke about his height. _Ready? 3, 2, 1… Go!_

“Why were you talking to Felicia Hardy of all people? You think she likes you? Ha. She doesn’t go for insects!” Insult. Check. “If I see you talking to her again it’s go time for you dick wad.” Vague threat. Check. “Hope I don’t see you dwarf.” Flash and his entourage laughed and swaggered off.

“Hate that guy.” Peter spun around to see one of his closest friends, MJ, sitting right next to him.

“Jesus christ MJ, when the hell did you get here?” Michelle Jones, he met her two years ago at college and have been friends ever since. “You don’t even go here.”

“Do YoU EvEn Go HeRe?” They laughed at the reference until MJ went back to her blank stare, reserved position, only a small smile playing on her lips. “I’ve been here since Flash called you out. I jumped the fence.” She flicked her head over to the window where the gated fence stood right along the side of campus.

“No you didn’t.” He shook his head and laughed but she didn’t join in. “I’m never gonna know when you’re lying to me, am I?”

“Probably not no. So who is this Felicia?” She nudged him playfully.

“Just a girl, got a date with her tonight.” MJ cooed at him as he shoved her over, both of them laughing.

“I got a date coming up soon. I don’t know if I’m gonna go.” She seemed pretty nonchalant about it all. Peter wished he was that cool.

“You should go. Might be the one.” He grinned but got a face full of her hand as she pushed his face away from her. “What? It might be?”

“Yeah maybe, anyway, I have to go back, see you later.” And just like that he watched her sneak off and leave. She had to do the same travel as he and Ned but she had to do it alone most of the time cause her time table didn’t match up with theirs. Come to think of it, Peter hadn’t seen MJ in ages. He’d have to change that somehow.

“Peter, the NYPD have set a warning for a possible assassination attempt on an important official.” Karen rang through his ear-piece pulling him away from his thoughts.

Peter sped out of the university and onto the street. As usual in New York City there was an abundance of people, both pedestrian and in vehicles but you could bet there was an alleyway close by. He pelted down the street passing all manner of people until he turned into an abandoned alleyway and leaped up onto the wall before sprinting up to the top. He pulled off his clothes to reveal the Spider-man suit and whipped out his mask from his bag and pulled it over his face.

“Where is the assassination going to happen, Karen?” He asked as he leaped off the side of the building.

“Right outside the train station, an important ambassador coming in from Wakanda is meeting with officials at the Wakandan embassy.” Wakanda? Wasn’t that where Black Panther was from? Cool!

He zipped through the streets of Manhattan until he came upon the station. He picked a particularly tall building so he could survey the surroundings for the would-be assassin.

“Okay Pete, if you were an assassin where would you be?” He felt his blood pumping. There were a lot of people here. Midday, lunch hour, New York City, really crowded. “You wouldn’t want to miss.” A straight line shot then. Spider-man zoned in on the entrance and then to the building directly in front. “Scan the building Karen, anyone in windows.”

“No one is present.” An angled shot from any building at the side was certainly plausible though. “Police presence inside the station has notified the arrival of the Wakandan official Peter.” They were here. That wasn’t good. Not enough time to escape if they were inside the station. There would be cops and the official’s own bodyguards. Definitely outside. Peter’s jaw hardened as his teeth grinded together. Would they risk getting even closer? With a presence as large as he, and therefore the assassin expected? No, it must be the sides then. Not enough time to scan every side.

His eyes darted around. There. Three cars, blacked out, standard police issue cars used for moving important individuals. The left side of the train station. Right side of the station would be a straight shot, it would be away from any added protection around the cars themselves. It could be a car bomb though. More deaths. Completely unnecessary deaths. He gripped the ridge of the roof he was perched on.

There they were. A clear formation of body guards and police surrounding them. A girl, African, she looked young. Time was short. “Scan the cars, I’m gonna check the building.”

Peter launched himself off the building and towards the buildings forming the right side of the station. “No bombs equipped.” Right side it was then. As he came closer, he spotted the smallest speck of a gun barrel. Spider-man shot a web towards the barrel, the firing pin went off, the primer exploded, the web hit the barrel, the bullet shot out and Peter pulled.

He spun his head around to see if anyone was injured. He couldn’t see any injured but the crowd had plunged into chaos. This was a different problem now. Spider-man watched the assassin run; he had to help the public first.

Peter launched himself over the crowd; he couldn’t do this by himself. There were too many people. He saw a child on her own running through the crowds of people, suddenly she was knocked over. He plunged into the crowd of screaming civilians and picked her up before jumping over the chaos and handing her to her mother who had been screaming.

“Okay, please let this work, please let this work.” _Think Parker, think. Wanda. Please Wanda. Can you hear me Wanda? Wanda!_

_Spider-man? How did you-?_

_No time, Grand central station right now!_

He felt the link cut off and without another thought Peter started guiding people out of the way of the main commotion where it was likely people could get trampled. An old man, a child, a man in a suit, a homeless man, a child, a woman, another, there were so many. He felt like he wasn’t even making an indent. Car horns were beeping and he could hear crashes everywhere. He swung over traffic and saw among all the people a car trying to push other vehicles out of the way so he could drive. He’d run over all those people in his state of panic.

Peter landed in front of the car and held it still, the driver, a balding man in glasses and a mud coloured suit screamed and cursed while his wife and kids cried and sobbed. He slammed his foot on the escalator and Peter jolted back before holding the car down.

“Get out and I’ll get you to safety! Please don’t do this! I know you’re scared I can help your family!” Suddenly the car stopped and Peter sighed. “Thank God, okay quickly let’s get you out of here. He went to open the door but saw their eyes were red and they weren’t moving. In fact, as he took in his surroundings, no one was moving and he noticed little wisps of red running throughout the area. He followed the tendrils to their source. Scarlet Witch.

“You called Spider-man.” Wanda, clad in her red trench coat and her black top and jeans hovered above him.

“Oh my God that’s so cool, I wish I could Instagram this.” At her confused look he gasped. “Okay I am so making you an Instagram. Wait, no, maybe later, definitely later but first how do we disperse this crowd so no one dies?” Suddenly, a wave of red smoke cast from Wanda’s hands all the way out through the crowd and they dispersed. But where was she sending them?

“Don’t look so worried Spider-man, they’re going home. What happened here?” The assassin got away. Damn it Parker.

“There was this Wakandan ambassador, that might be wrong cause she looked about my – my little sister’s age, which is 18 and I don’t think they’d let her speak for America.” He tried to force a laugh to pass the fact he’d almost given away his age.

“Shuri? Was she hurt? Do you know?” Wait Scarlet Witch knew ambassadors of Wakanda? That was cool.

“No I don’t think so, I think he missed. I’m gonna go take a look at the firearm; see what Karen gives me on it.” He used two webs to catapult himself away from Wanda and toward the apartment block; he could see the sniper on the floor of the balcony, one of his webs attached to it. “Karen, what do you think?”

“Shouldn’t we show this to Tony?” Peter nodded along absent minded as he carefully lifted the gun and turned it around allowing Karen to take a full scan.

“Karen?”

“It’s a signature weapon to the hired assassin, code name: Agent X.” Karen supplied.

“Agent X huh, never heard of him. Must be new here.” Peter whispered to himself.

“Who’s Karen and did she tell you who the assassin was?” Peter jumped as Scarlet Witch appeared floating behind him clearly having run out of patience for his ignorance.

“Karen’s great she’s an AI in my suit, Mr. Stark put her there. Agent X is the assassin, know anything?” She looked at him blankly. “Well, if you figure anything out, give me a call.” Then he was off again, flying through the air, swinging from building to building.

“Why is he always in such a rush?” Wanda picked up the sniper and unloaded it before strapping it to her back. “Wait how am I gonna call him?” Suddenly a card flew past her and stuck to the wall behind, it read; ‘To call your friendly neighbourhood Spider-man: Think real, real hard.’ “Friendly neighbourhood huh?” She chuckled to herself and flew off to the Avengers compound.

 


	5. Youth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters up for making you guys wait so long! Hope you enjoy! :)

Peter stepped through the window to his room in Queens. His muscles ached from swinging all the way from Manhattan to Queens; he fell onto his chair at his desk almost missing it. Dispersing the crowd hadn’t been too bad, he just had to make sure no one got trampled and with his quick reflexes coupled with his heightened sense that was little trouble.

He checked the clock. It was 7pm already! “Shit!” Peter ran out of his bedroom door and into the bathroom taking off his suit before showering as fast as a Spider-man could. He jumped out of the shower and sped back to his room passing a very surprised May. “I’m gonna be late May!”

“Late for what honey?” May poked her head around the door of his bedroom but luckily he’d already gotten boxers on.

“I have a date with this gorgeous girl at university.” Just then, his phone went off. It was Felicia, it looked like an address and it was accompanied by a further message ‘Bring a suit Parker.”

“Was that her?” His Aunt smiled as he nodded, a grin spread across his own face.

“I’m meeting her at some event she’s been invited to, think it might be for charity. I’m not sure who would be hosting it though.” Felicia really hadn’t given her much detail on the entire thing actually.

“Well come on, you said you were gonna be late, get ready!” With that May closed the door and Peter started rushing around his room looking for his hairdryer, deodorant, aftershave and his actual suit. Hopefully it still fit him. “Oh don’t forget your Spider-man suit!” Could he not have one night without having to think about Spider-man?

By 7:55pm he was finally ready and his aunt had offered to give him a lift since she seemed to be just as stressed as he was that he was going to be late. Luckily, the universe was on his side and they made record time through Queens and Peter could see Felicia waiting for him on the sidewalk. 8:05pm, late. Damn it.

“Thanks May, I love you!”

“Love you too, lady killer.” He laughed as he whizzed out the car and waved as she left.

“Parker you should never leave a lady waiting.” He was just about to apologise when he looked up from the car and saw Felicia. She was in a beautiful black dress, it cut just above the knee and she was wrapped in a large white fur coat. Her hair fell in waves down one side all the way down to her chest, Peter quickly snapped his eyes up to meet hers. “Like what you see huh? Come on, let’s go in.” She held out her arm and Peter shook himself from his frozen state and he held out his for her to hold.

“You look amazing Felicia.” He just managed to breathe as they walked into the building. It was huge, looked old too, domed at the top but all the lights were on and he could hear music coming from the inside. It looked very fancy and Peter wondered why a university student was invited to a place like this.

“I know. You don’t brush up too badly yourself.” Peter smiled as he took in the interior of the building. “Might want to do up your zipper though, a lot of old people are here, we wouldn’t want them to get the fright.” His eyes widened in shock as he felt for the zip – it was undone.

“Well that’s embarrassing.” She giggled but didn’t say anything further. They came to two large doors manned by two security guards. Peter really hoped they didn’t frisk his spider suit underneath his formal wear.

“He’s with me boys, no need to search us tonight.” That was weird. Who was Felicia Hardy?

The doors were opened for them and Peter couldn’t help but gasp. The floor was white marble, heels pinched at his senses as women walked around on the arms of wealthy men he’d only seen on TV or driving through New York in expensive cars. The ceiling was covered in ornate, likely biblical, oil paintings which was fitting because the ceiling was so high it felt as if heaven was only a few inches above it. A huge crystal chandelier hung in the middle of the room which was perhaps more than quadruple the size of his entire flat and stairs framed in mahogany led up to other parts of the building. Displayed above the stairs was a large banner – ‘The Hardy Charity Foundation’.

“This is your charity event.” Felicia was watching him rather amused by the spectacle of it all; Peter imagined she did this to people a lot. She grasped his hand as they walked towards and older woman, her hair had greyed but her face was strikingly similar to Felicia’s.

“Hi mum. This is Peter, the boy I was talking about in Connor’s class.” She presented him in front of the group of people whom her mother was talking to and he felt a little put on the spot.

“Hi Ms Hardy, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He stuck out his hand and she politely shook it though she didn’t look overly pleased to be doing so.

“I’m sure it is Peter, the same to you, this is J Jonah Jameson, you may have heard of him-”

“Oh yes when I was younger I wanted to be a photographer for the Bugle but other things intruded on that idea.” His Uncle dying being one of them, his super human powers being another, and the price of a camera being the last.

“It’s a very hard business to get into young man, it took a lot for me to get into it myself but I had a lot of talent and a whole lot more drive to do it.” Peter smiled and nodded politely, he noticed that Ms Hardy did not bother to introduce the photographer following Jameson around; he likely wasn’t worth the name in her eyes.

“You shouldn’t intimidate the poor boy with all your accomplishments Jonah.” Ms Hardy laughed. “Felicia I would have appreciated it had you told me about bringing a plus one first, I’m not sure this is a good time.” Her eyes drifted to the one person Peter did not want to see tonight.

“Is that the Felicia Hardy with Peter Parker?” Flash strolled over, he wore what looked to be a tailored black suit accompanied with a sleek black bow-tie and an aggressively smug grin marking his features.

“Flash Thompson, I’m glad you already know my daughter, I assume you have a lot to talk about, studies, social life, social standing,” Peter almost sneered at the side look he was given by Ms Hardy. “Peter there are snacks and orange juice over at the table, please help yourself.” He took a look at Felicia who was listening to Flash babble garbage about his dad’s third home in Switzerland. Peter smiled and walked away, he figured if stuck around for an hour he could sneak off and make an excuse about his aunt.

15 minutes later he’d spent all his time bored out of his mind trying to make idle conversation with rich people, they weren’t all bad but certain things they just didn’t really understand especially coming from someone who is living off savings from his Uncle Ben.

“Hey man, you look excited.” He smiled as he turned and saw a boy, a couple years older than him, sporting a nice suit similar to Flash’s but his smile was easier and he leaned on the wall next to Peter, slouched and with his hands in his pockets.

“I’ve never been to one of these, and I think my school bully just stole my date.” Peter nodded in the direction of Felicia and Flash. His mouth didn’t seem to stop moving, Felicia must be well entertained, he wouldn’t even know what to say to a girl like that.

“Felicia Hardy huh? You have good taste, I used to think she was the one for me but she never had any interest in me and on the experience of Felicia Hardy not having an interest in people, she isn’t listening to a word Flash Thompson is saying.” Peter wasn’t so sure, she seemed to be paying enough attention, nodding her head every now and again.

“You think?” This new person just chuckled and nodded. “I’m Peter Parker by the way.”

“I’m Harry Osborn,” he stuck out his hand but Peter had suddenly straitened from the wall he was slouching against and shook his hand.

“As in Oscorp? That is so freaking cool!” As excited as Peter was to be meeting the son of the Norman Osborn, Harry didn’t seem as chuffed.

“If you say so man, listen I’m gonna head out, I’ll catch you later Peter.” Harry made to walk off and Peter knew he couldn’t let the one person who actually wanted to talk to him leave.

“Hey no don’t go,” He turned mid step. “Listen I’m sorry, I get it, well actually no I don’t but I can imagine what it’s like living under a shadow, feeling like you can never amount to a legacy and you just want people to see the real you because you are good at things and they may not necessarily be the same as the shadow’s but they make you, you.” Peter finally released a breath. That was a lot, he knew that Peter Parker could never be respected in the way that Spider-man was.

Peter Parker couldn’t climb walls or swing from buildings or lift cars going 70 mph but Peter could top all of his classes, he could outsmart the best students in his school, he could consistently hold the record for Space Invaders at the local comic book store and he could be there for his friends and his aunt. Peter was still important.

“Wow okay Peter, maybe you do get it. But if you’re ever in need of a job when you get out of university, I can put in a good word for you at Oscorp.” Peter couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Really?”

“Yeah of course, I think you’d be a great personal assistant to the son of the owner of one of the largest bio-tech companies on the planet.” Peter’s face dropped but he quickly tried to cover it up with a smile but Harry just laughed. “I’m joking dude, chill out. Tell you what Pete, how about we tak this bottle of expensive champagne,” Harry suddenly held up a bottle that had not been in his hand two seconds ago “go up to the roof of this place and hang out.”

“You’ll think they’ll let us?” Harry just grinned and swaggered off toward a side entrance and Peter just followed knowing hanging out with Harry is much better than watching Flash with Felicia.

“Who said anything about letting us?” Suddenly Harry broke into a sprint and Peter hurried to follow him being careful not to overtake him and show off his superhuman dexterity.

They pushed through the door and Peter followed Harry as he navigated through hallways and upstairs, they passed several members of stuff who shouted at them but Harry didn’t stop so Peter thought it best not to do so too. Suddenly two large bouncers stood in their way.

“Okay Pete we might be out the game here.” But where Harry slowed down Peter sped up, he could hear Harry now trying to keep pace with him. He turned and took the bottle from Harry and laughed as he slid underneath one of the guards and carried on sprinting away, he peeked behind him and saw Harry had managed the same manoeuvre. “You’re crazy Peter! Keep running you fucking genius!” The two laughed as they started pulling away from the two guards. They ran up more and more stairs, this place didn’t end but finally Harry motioned for them to run through a door.

The cold air smacked him in the face as the two slumped on the floor completely out of breath. They just stared at each other and after a few seconds burst out into a fit of laughter.

“Did you see that guards face?” Harry shouted as the two scream-laughed smacking the floor like they were cavemen.

“He looked like a fucking gold fish!” Tears began to form at Peter’s eyes as he was curled up on the floor laughing like a madman.

“Oh god my belly hurts, that was wild dude.” When the laughing died down Harry suddenly looked at him and grinned. “I knew you were a cool guy Peter. Let’s drink heavily.”

Peter hadn’t felt like a teenager since his uncle died. But tonight was one of the many he would have with Harry Osborn who became one of the very few who could show him what being young really felt like. So he took the bottle, popped the cork with ease and took the first healthy swig.  

 

 


End file.
